NEW YORK, N.Y. – All of a sudden the Indians starting pitchers can pitch. Who knew?

There was no surprise when Corey Kluber threw six scoreless innings against the Yankees on Saturday as the Tribe forged a 3-0 victory. Kluber does that all the times, but just where has this version of Carraso been all these months?

Carrasco, after a three-month hiatus in the bullpen, took the mound Sunday and threw five scoreless innings as the Indians beat the Yankees, 4-1, in front of a sun-splashed crowd of 46,152 in the Bronx.

Before the game manager Terry Francona was fretting about how long he should let Carrasco pitch since he was making his first start since April 25. It looked like Carrasco could have gone from sun up to sundown, but Francona decided to go get him after five splendid innings and 77 pitches.

Carrasco (4-4, 3.60) won for the first time as a starter since June 29, 2011 when he beat Arizona. In between those two victories, he went 0-12 with a 8.09 ERA in 17 starts.

He struck out four and allowed two hits.

Hiroki Kuroda (7-8, 4.03) took the loss. He allowed three runs on five hits in 4 2/3 innings.

What it means?

The Indians (59-59) are back to .500 for the 17th time this season. They returned to Cleveland with a 2-3 record on this quick trip through Cincinnati and the City That Never Sleeps.

They won the season series against the Yankees, 4-3. It's the first time they've won a season series since 2008 when they went 4-3.

The Indians started Sunday trailing Detroit by 6½ games in the AL Central. In the wild card, they trailed Kansas City for the second wild card spot by five games.

The Yankees (61-56) finished this seven-game homestand at 4-3. They are 14-9 since the All-Star break and entered Sunday's game trailing the Orioles by six in the AL East and 1½ games behind the Royals for the second wild card spot.

Oh, so close

The Indians missed blanking the Yankees for the second straight day by one out. Cody Allen retired the first two batters in the ninth before giving up a homer to Jacoby Ellsbury.

Top-shelf stuff

The top of the batting order took care of business Sunday.

Leadoff man Jason Kipnis had three hits and came around to score each time. Michael Brantley delivered him in the first and third innings, while Yan Gomes stroked a two-out single to right to score Kipnis in the seventh.

Kipnis opened the game with a single. Jose Ramirez bunted him to second and he took third on a wild pitch. Brantley slapped a single past third for a 1-0 lead.

In the third, Kipnis opened with a double. Ramirez, with his second of three sacrifice bunts, moved him to third. Brantley followed with a sacrifice fly to a 2-0 lead.

Kipnis started the seventh with a 40-hopper through the left side of the Yankee infield. It seemed to take an hour to reach left field.

From there Ramirez bunted him to second, he stole third and scored on Gomes' singles. The Indians get criticized a lot for their lack of fundamentals, but they were on point Sunday.

That's no bull

For the second straight game the bullpen was excellent in relief of a starting pitcher.

After Carrasco pitched five scoreless innings, CC Lee retired the Yankees in order in the sixth, striking out Brett Gardner and Derek Jeter for the last two outs.

Scott Atchison gave up a one-out single to Mark Teixeira in the seventh, but induced a 4-6-3 double play from Carlos Beltran.

Bryan Shaw gave up a two-out double to Ichiro Suzuki in the eighth, but struck out Francisco Cervelli to end the inning.

In the ninth, with a 4-0 lead, Allen retired Gardner and Jeter, but gave up a homer to Ellsbury before he ended it by getting Teixeira on a grounder to first.

"Everybody did their job," said manager Terry Francona.

In Saturday's 5-0 victory, Kluber went six innings followed by Atchison, Shaw and Allen, who earned his 15th save.

4-run rule

Francona believes in using his closer when he has a four-run lead. That's why Allen was out there Sunday in the ninth with the Tribe up 4-0.

It wasn't a save situation, but Francona believes it's better to use your closer with a four-run lead rather than bring him in after the opposition has started a rally.

What happens now?

The Indians have an off day Monday before opening a five-game homestand against Arizona on Tuesday. They have another off dad Thursday before the AL East leading Orioles visit for a three-game series starting Friday.

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